A charity rope climb at a Tyneside gym seemed like a tall order for its members - but they rose to the challenge and broke their target to boost the Kian Musgrove appeal.

Lee Howe, co-owner of CrossFit in Gateshead, was part of a 10-strong team who climbed the equivalent of the world’s tallest building: the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.

They took part in relay rope climbs at the gym on the Team Valley Trading Estate, covering the same distance as an organised event in Dubai, and they managed to beat their competition.

And at the same time they raised more than £500 to help young cancer sufferer Kian Musgrove, from Newcastle, whose family say they face a £750,000 bill to secure him treatment in America.

Lee, who runs Teesside-based CrossFit gyms across the North East with business partner Joanne Bannatyne, said his team aimed to complete the 2,700ft climb - almost 830 metres - in an hour, with each person scaling the rope every 15 seconds.

But they did even better. “We were actually doing the climb every 10 seconds,” he said.

“There were 212 rope climbs of a 12ft rope and it took 22 minutes. We had a really fast team and we beat the guys in Dubai by five minutes - we set out to beat them.”

The challenge came about when a former gym member, now living in the United Arab Emirates city where the skyscraper Burj Khalifa dominates the skyline, mentioned the city’s upcoming challenge on a visit home.

Lee, 33, said: “He told us they were doing the event and we thought it would be a good idea to do the same. Then we thought we might as well do it for charity.”

The region’s five CrossFit gyms have raised around £25,000 for good causes in the past, including the British Heart Foundation and breast cancer and prostrate cancer charities, and, as Lee was looking for a local charity to help this time, he read about The Chronicle coverage of the Kian Musgrove appeal.

He said: “It just felt appropriate to raise money for the youngster, to help him get out to America.”

Lee’s team, including two coaches and with the rest made up of members, raised a total of £550, boosted by gym co-owner Jo who gave an extra £50 on top of her sponsorship for beating the Dubai team.

The money will help the family of Kian, from Newbiggin Hall, to cover the costs of specialist treatment in the US for his neuroblastoma cancer which the youngster, who turned four today, is battling for the second time.